Central Processing Unit and How CPU Works | Components of CPU
A central processing unit (CPU) is the hardware within a computer that carries out the instructions of a computer program by performing the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. It is a microprocessor made up of millions of microscopic transistors embedded in a circuit on a silicon wafer or chip. Eg. Pentium, Alpha, Athlon etc.
How CPU Works ?
• The inputs are data and brief instructions about what to do with the data. These instructions come from software in other parts of the computer. The inputs are stored in registers until they are sent to the next step in the processing.
• Data and instruction travel in chip via electrical pathways called buses. The size of the bus determines how much information can flow at any time.
• The control unit directs the flow of data and instructions within the chip.
• The arithmetic-logic unit (ALU) receives data and instructions from the registers and makes the desired computation. These data and instructions have been translated into binary form. The CPU can process only binary data. • The data in their original form and the instructions are sent to storage registers and then are sent back to a storage place outside the chip, such as computers hard drive. Meanwhile, the transformed data go to another register and then on to other parts of computer.
The cycle of processing, known as machine instruction cycle, occurs millions of times per second or more. It is faster or slower, depending on the following factors:
• Machine instruction cycle:
The cycle of computer processing, whose speed is measured in terms of the number of instructions a chip processes per second.
• Clock speed:
The preset speed of the computer clock that times all chip activities, measured in megahertz and gigahertz.
• Word length:
The number of bits (0s and 1s) that can be processed by the CPU at any one time.
• Bus width:
The size of the physical paths down which the data and instructions travel as electrical impulses on a computer chip.
• Line width:
The distance between transistors; the smaller the line width, the faster the chip.
Moore’s Law Microprocessor complexity would double every two years as a result of the following changes:
• Increasing miniaturization of transistors.
• Making the physical layout of the chips components as compact and efficient as possible.
• Using materials for the chip that improve the conductivity (flow) of electricity. Targeting the amount of basic instructions programmed into the chip.
Microcontroller:
Computer chips, embedded in products and technologies that usually cost less and work in less-demanding applications than microprocessors.
Related: Output Technologies
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